


Transformations by Lavoisier

by Namless



Category: GOT7, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst, As in good god how many tons of angst probably, Characters to be added when they appear, Fluff, I'll also add tags when updating, I'll try my best at that, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-20 23:26:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11931558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namless/pseuds/Namless
Summary: Life has unexpected ways to reward and for sure, this was probably something Yoongi didn't expect._Namjoon wasn’t really a regular at his practice; he would only sometimes pop by to bring materials they needed, like sterile gauze pads, alcohol, cotton swabs. Much like earlier, one night as Jimin was closing, done for the day – emergencies aside – Namjoon had barreled in with that black ball of fur, both of them covered in blood and bruises. Namjoon begging him to save the cat and Jimin had patched up the both of them. He had been curious as to how Namjoon ended up injured and how he met the cat but he never got around to ask.





	Transformations by Lavoisier

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you've been doing well! I wanted to work on Between The Lines or something for the Never Too Late series but my brain decided to go elsewhere so, here we are now x)
> 
> I'd just like to warn you that some deaths may occur during this story but as you've seen, there is a reincarnation tag. The deaths happen but they're not permanent and just to be clear: there is a death in this very first chapter. If you can bear with me, I sure hope to make things right in the next few chapters!
> 
> Meanwhile, enjoy!
> 
> Betaed by the lovely [ohmakemelaugh](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmakemelaugh/pseuds/ohmakemelaugh)

Taehyung watched as Namjoon clung to the tiny body. He was lying down in his basket, eyes following Jimin’s hands as they flew, not to the ball of fur Namjoon held with the utmost precaution in his trembling arms but to his face, bloodied and purple in some places. It was a curious thing; Jimin didn’t usually treat humans, only animals.

 

Taehyung was fairly certain that it wasn’t the first time he had seen Namjoon in this state of frenzy, perhaps not that bad. The memory was distant though so he couldn’t be sure. There was frantic talking, Namjoon’s voice high pitched at times, pleading as he sat there on the floor of Jimin’s practice. Sleep clung to his body so Taehyung still didn’t understand why there was so much agitation in the middle of the night. He sat up and shook off the slumber right as Jimin stood up, all soft and subtle worried sighs, motioning for Namjoon to follow him, Taehyung pawing behind them.

 

As Namjoon sat down on a chair Jimin had motioned him towards, Taehyung took the opportunity to approach him, gently nudging his long hands with his nuzzle, hoping to provide comfort as he looked up to the man. Namjoon’s gaze switched from the limp form in his arms to Taehyung, the tired smile that curled his lips for a mere second only serving to make the tears in his eyes spill over, smearing red streaks down his cheeks. As Taehyung stood on his back legs, front ones all gentle on Namjoon’s knee, and licked one side of his face, he had a brief view of the animal in Namjoon’s arms, cradled there like the most precious jewel.

 

Sitting back down, ears registering the familiar movements of Jimin preparing his tools near the examination table in the next room, he slowly sniffed the black fur, sticking in glistening dark patches here and there, the animal facing him after letting out a low pained sound. _Oh_. Taehyung swallowed, whining as he slid his head on Namjoon’s knee, bringing his nuzzle closer to the cat’s small face, watching unmistakable mismatched eyes, one so clear blue it almost looked grey and the other a warm amber. The cat’s head lolled ever so slightly and Taehyung, feeling Namjoon tensing under his jaw, gently placed his nuzzle in support. The cat’s ears were icy.

 

Jimin walked back in and there was a bit of talking again but Taehyung didn’t pay attention to it, focused instead on the cat’s harsh breathing and cold ears. Then familiar soft fingers brushed his neck and he turned towards Jimin, tail wagging gently.

 

“Stay here, watch over him.” Jimin murmured with a slight nod toward Namjoon, scratching behind Taehyung’s left ear. “Okay?”

 

Taehyung tilted his head, pushed a paw over Jimin’s forearm. “Good boy.”

 

A ruffle on his head and then Jimin was taking Namjoon’s cat from his arms with the utmost care as the wounded animal mewled low.

 

“Easy buddy, easy.”

 

Instead of sitting back on the chair, Namjoon slumped on the floor, Taehyung crossing the small distance between them and sitting close, softly dropping his head on the man’s shoulder. Taehyung kept breathing slowly, steady and unmoving as Namjoon’s face disappeared in the fur of his collar, fingers of one hand shaking as they petted his head.

 

* * *

 

 

Jimin splayed his fingers through the black fur, feeling the erratic beating of the cat’s tiny heart. He looked up to the clock on the wall opposite him, sighing inwardly - barely twenty minutes had passed since Namjoon had brought the poor thing in. The light behind the fresh x-rays was too bright. Too cruel. Jimin kneeled to be at eye level with the cat, staring right into his incredible eyes. The animal stared back, blinking once slowly, trying to communicate without words - and somehow Jimin was certain he understood.

 

Becoming a veterinarian wasn’t Jimin’s dream job if he had to ever tell people how he ended up in taking this career. But it most certainly became a vocation the moment he met Tae. It had been a turning point in his life and Jimin had never been more certain of a choice than the one he made that fateful day. With the softest of caress behind the cat’s ears, Jimin stood back up, ignoring his back muscles screaming at him to sit the fuck down. He willed his legs towards the door, barely registering the limp getting worse, and despite having done this – sadly – a hundred times at least, his stomach still dropped as he swung it open.

 

Namjoon wasn’t really a regular at his practice; he would only sometimes pop by to bring materials they needed, like sterile gauze pads, alcohol, cotton swabs. Much like earlier, one night as Jimin was closing, done for the day – emergencies aside – Namjoon had barreled in with that black ball of fur, both of them covered in blood and bruises. Namjoon begging him to save the cat and Jimin had patched up the both of them. He had been curious as to how Namjoon ended up injured and how he met the cat but he never got around to ask.

 

Namjoon lived in the neighborhood so Jimin often saw him and it was strange to see that lanky gauche man followed around by this black furred shadow. Because yes, the cat followed Namjoon around, from and to work. Jimin often wondered if the cat took a liking to the man after he saved his life. Once, when Jimin didn’t see the cat when he randomly met Namjoon, the man explained that it happened - the cat was a free soul and so he let him wander. Both the man and the cat seemed… satisfied by this agreement of sorts. Jimin had never seen Namjoon with anyone, truth be told, so he thought that the cat kept the man company while having a place to go back to without really being tied down. Namjoon had half confirmed it once as they shared a coffee during an afternoon break. People underestimated the place a pet could take in one’s life and Namjoon seemed very fond of the cat – Jimin knew he downplayed things, a vague memory of Namjoon sitting in the small park of their neighborhood, slightly slumped on a bench, sharing pieces of meat from his skewers all the while talking to the cat. The animal seemed to be listening, sometimes asking for more meat when the man trailed off a tad too long with a paw on his arm. The smile on Namjoon’s face what was clung best to Jimin’s mind from that day: warm, endearing, happiness in its purest form.

 

Jimin’s stomach dropped lower – if that was even possible – as he stood on the threshold: Namjoon was sitting on the floor of the waiting room, his beat up face half hidden in Tae’s gold fur, body limp and tense at the same time. Taehyung wagged his tail once, as if wanting to let Jimin know he heard him. A lump clogged Jimin’s throat as he cleared it lightly, the cold truth of him being able to only patch up the man this time slapping him hard across the face. Namjoon instantly stood up at the sound, stumbling in his haste.

 

“Follow me.”

 

Jimin turned back to the examination room and sighed again, eyes burning when they briefly skimmed over the x-rays. Behind him, the soft click of Taehyung’s nails on the floor was somewhat grounding him and the tiredness of his body, all the things that happened the previous day that made his muscles sore – his old injury flaring to life again, disappeared. Jimin knew that if anything remotely close to this were to happen to him and Taehyung, he wished that the person in charge would be kind, comprehensive and accompany him, accompany Tae. Namjoon had turned to him in last hope and while Jimin couldn’t be this last hope, he could still do his best and support them.

 

“How is he?” Namjoon’s voice was low and soft but still sounded loud in the cold room.

 

The cat perked one ear at it, rough mewl coming out. Jimin eyed the animal, and then lifted his gaze to Namjoon’s face. Jimin thanked whichever deity was in duty to find the man focused on his pet rather than him, somehow making things less difficult – still, Jimin didn’t avert his eyes when the silence stretched and made him look up.

 

“His condition is beyond treatment.” Jimin said as he carefully chose his words; it seemed to kick the gears back in. “There are too many injuries and some of the damages are irreversible.”

 

Namjoon’s features scrunched up. He wasn’t crying but it was somehow more painful to watch.

 

“Is he-” Namjoon’s voice broke off as he deeply breathed in. “Is he in pain?”

 

Jimin glanced down at the cat. “We can never be sure, but the spine is severely wounded, meaning beyond a point, he may not be feeling anything.”

 

For a while, silence was the only sound, then Jimin heard soft clicks and he felt Taehyung walking next to his calf and to the other side of the table. Tae had some sort of intuition on when to do things, Jimin was certain of that – like when to sit next to people or other pets to comfort them, so it was no surprise to see Namjoon briefly looking down next to him with a tired smile.

 

“I suppose the best course of things is to…”

 

Namjoon trailed off, his mouth pursed into a pale imitation of a smile, eyes trained on the barely breathing animal. Jimin nodded, unable to bring himself to talk anymore.

 

“Okay then.” Namjoon said.

 

Jimin didn’t know what made those two simple words the saddest he may have heard in his nearly seven years as a veterinarian; the fact that the cat was looking intently at Namjoon, maybe, as if he knew what was happening and how he seemed at peace with it. Or perhaps the quiet, crumpled defeat in Namjoon’s eyes.

 

Jimin moved efficiently around the room, his body dancing a routine he wished he didn’t know by heart, bringing a chair to the man and grabbing a syringe.

 

“I can leave you alone if you wish.” Jimin offered.

 

Namjoon stared at him, lips pinched as he shook his head. Jimin whispered a soft _ok_ , checked that the man was as ready as he could before slowly pushing the syringe in and injecting the liquid relief to the cat who emitted a soft grunt, looked at Jimin for a second or two, its strange gaze shifting to Namjoon who gently slipped a hand under the cat’s head. There were maybe two, three at most, breaths and the animal’s head lolled against Namjoon’s palm limply and that was it. Taehyung whimpered somewhere around the man’s thigh as he cradled the small broken corpse closer, burying his face in the still lukewarm fur while Jimin fetched the material to stitch the wound on the man’s forehead.

 

* * *

 

 

Later, when he was alone at his desk, Taehyung in his basket at his feet, Jimin’s vision blurred, pen hovering over the sheet. He sniffled, felt so ridiculous – he wasn’t a kid anymore, damn it so why was it so hard this time? With a sigh, Jimin wiped his tears with his too long sleeve, quickly wrote “Kim Namjoon” as the name of the owner, and sighed again when adding the cause of death. He was getting up and reaching for the lamp when he realized he forgot the name of the animal. After cursing softly under his breath and rectifying his mistake, Jimin stood up once more, tiredness biting back his ass with the limp. He was making sure that he hadn’t forgotten anything again when Taehyung showed up with something between his teeth – he didn’t hear him leave the room – nearly knocking himself out by entering the room too fast. Jimin grabbed the crutch’s handle, laughing softly.

 

“Good boy, Tae, good boy!”

 

Taehyung yapped, turned around on himself twice, and then ran outside of Jimin’s office. Jimin eyed the paper one last time, turned off the lamp and hobbled toward his room. Under the streetlight filtering in, the word _Gloss_ glinted in black ink under the line _pet’s name_.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for sticking up until here! I'd be more than happy to know what you thought of this chapter, don't hesitate, I don't bite x)
> 
> Hopefully, see you soon in next chapter ! :3


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